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Be Honest

We all know that most politicians are far from truthful. But some are just so blatant about it, it’s scary. What’s even scarier is that some people still can’t see it.

It’s no secret the republicans support laws and regulations that keep rich people rich. They admit it. They feel that rich people should be able to keep the money they earn. You can debate the morality of it, but at least they admit it. The democrats, on the other hand, just don’t seem to want to be honest about how they feel.

The left and the democrats continuously champion themselves as heroes for the poor. But are they really? It really seems like a lot of bills they enact not only keep rich people rich, but give them more money and force more money out of the pockets of the middle-class and poor.

I started to question it with Obama’s energy efficiency tax credit. The one where you could get a tax credit of up to $8,000 for new energy-efficient windows or appliances. (A credit is basically them giving you the money, but you don’t get it until tax time, meaning you pay out-of-pocket until then) Who usually has the most inefficient windows and appliances? The rich or the poor? How many poor people can afford to pay $5,000 out-of-pocket for new windows for their house, or even up to $10,000 for a new heating/cooling system? This tax credit helped out those that could already afford it. With these upgrades, they save even more money in the long run by spending less on heating costs.

The same went with the home buyer tax credit. You buy a house, you get a credit when you do your taxes. This was after banks stopped giving out bad loans. So, did it really help out the poor who couldn’t afford to purchase a home, or did it help out rich folks that decided to upgrade?

Yes, I know there were plenty of middle class folks that were able to benefit from these credits, but did the poor? No. The rich benefitted the most. They had the means to make these purchases.

The same went for the cash for clunkers program. Of course, the name of this was extremely misleading. One would think if you had a jalopy that was broken down, you would get something more for it. But no. To qualify, your vehicle had to get bad gas mileage. And no, not bad because it was old and worn out, but bad because it had a giant engine that always sucked down the gas. Most poor that have cars and middle class have fuel-efficient vehicles. They can’t afford the gas guzzling sport cars or SUVs. So again, who did this program help the most?

The financial reform bill punished those that tried to save as well. The rich have their petty cash accounts. Accounts they use to buy their novelty items, or frivolous items on a whim. Everyone has those, actually. They’re checking accounts. But let’s face it, the rich have much more in theirs. The poor and middle class quite often have to wait to purchase items until they have enough money in the account. If it’s a needed item like groceries or a bill about to go overdue, they may have to tap into their savings. Guess what? Do that too many times and it no longer is a savings account by law. It will automatically become a non-interest bearing checking account. Now, I understand that savings accounts don’t draw that much interest. Especially if there’s not much there, but every penny helps, right? Especially for the poor.

Now, these are the examples of how the democrat policies have helped the rich. Even though they claim to be champions for the poor.

So, now they have their eyes set on taking money from the poor.

The EPA is now enacting extremely strict regulations on wood burning stoves. over 12% of the population uses wood as a primary heat source, compared to only 7% that use fuel oil.

To be fair, if you currently own a wood burning stove, you can keep it. BUT, if you want to install one, or need to replace it, you will be paying a lot more. See, your old one cannot be sold to someone else. It must be destroyed, rendered inoperable or recycled. So basically, if you’re poor and you have to replace your wood burning stove, the leftist EPA will now require you to eat the cost of your old one.

New ones will go up in price as well. The regulations require that wood burning stoves burn 80% more efficiently. More efficiently. That doesn’t mean they have to be 80% efficient. They have to increase efficiency by that much.

There was no study done to see how it would impact the cost, but the manufacturers are saying that it’s completely impossible to meet the new standards without increasing costs.

Now, do you think the rich heat their homes with wood? Sure, they may have a fireplace, but it’s for looks, not primary heat. The poor and middle class are the ones that use wood the most for heating. But the democrats don’t seem to mind.

Prices of cars continue to climb. Since 2008, prices have increased 10%, in part due to EPA regulations on efficiency, even though there was a good amount of deflation in 2009. The EPA has on multiple occasions enacted stricter standards, seemingly on a whim, with zero regard to economy, or feasibility.

These regulations keep coming from the left. Yet, they do nothing to actually help the poor. In fact, several of these moves do more to hurt the poor.

How many poor or middle class families lost their homes due to Clinton’s Fair Housing Act? (Yes, that is the bill that basically forced banks to give bad loans to people who couldn’t afford payments.)

The welfare system seems to reward bad behavior. If you make too much, you get nothing. But yet we frequently see folks that qualify end up living a better life than someone who actually earns more than them. This essentially traps people. If you start to make more, you get cut off, and your higher earnings don’t even come close to the hand-outs you got.

It seems to be a ploy to trap people in the system. They hand out checks instead of knowledge. The welfare system does little to help you figure out how you got there and how to get you out. Instead, they call you a victim. Basically, they tell you that you’re too weak and too stupid to do anything about your situation. How do folks not find this insulting?

I seriously am concerned that the democrats do this on purpose. They create a cycle of poverty so they can be the “heroes.”

You may not like the republican stance of “let rich people stay rich,” but at least they’re upfront and honest about it.

The democrats, on the other hand, either they’re incredibly blind, or they’re extremely deceitful.